Immediately, Maelie perked up. Her voice changed from speaking softly to a normal tone, and a bright smile lit her face, almost like a sigh of relief. Leaning forward, she gave me a hug and a kiss on the cheek. “Oh, I am so glad!” she said.
Now that Maelie was feeling better, I got up to leave. She followed me into the living room where her mother was sitting, and before I knew what was happening, Maelie said, “Mother, we are engaged!”
Stunned, I stared at Maelie with my mouth hanging open. I did not know what to say. I’d just told her “I love you,” so I couldn’t contradict her in front of her mother. Besides, she seemed happier than I had seen her in a long time. Mrs. Olsen congratulated us. “I am so happy for both of you!” she said, as if she’d hoped this would happen all along.
I could not think straight. All I knew was that I could not contradict Maelie, so I accepted it, not wanting to hurt her feelings and cause her to go back into a deep depression. Besides, it happened so fast, and I didn’t know how to stop the excitement. Maelie rushed to the phone and began calling people, saying, “I’m engaged to Kris!” I couldn’t stop her, and my mind seemed to accept the situation. I guess this is how it must be, I thought. This is it. How am I going to tell my parents?
As Maelie made phone calls, Mrs. Olsen said, “Oh Kris, she loves you so much.”
After a few minutes, I returned to my apartment feeling puzzled and under tremendous pressure. What has happened? I wondered. How am I going to break this news to my friends and family back in India? My parents were supposed to arrange and plan a marriage for me, and up until that point, I had planned to fulfill their wishes and marry someone from my culture.
Apparently, in Maelie’s mind, saying “I love you too” meant we were in love. She had hoped for this, and most of all, as I learned later, it was her mother’s wish that she marry me. I was educated, had a full time professional job, and always wore a suit. In Mrs. Olsen’s mind, I was a perfect match. I also learned that Maelie had cautioned Kay, her best friend, to stay away from me. “Kris is mine,” she warned. Kay was a flirtatious girl, and Maelie feared that she might try to date me.
When I shared the news with Mrs. Brown, she acted surprised, because she hoped I would call her daughter again when she was back in town. In any case, she congratulated me, and soon the news spread among the Programming Department employees.
That weekend, when I visited Sewa Singh, I reluctantly told him the news. “I’m engaged, Sewa.” He took one look at my face and started laughing. “How did that happen, man? Who is this girl you haven’t told me about?” I wanted to laugh along with him, but I couldn’t. It wasn’t what I wanted, but I thought I had no choice. Part of me was being polite, not wanting to hurt Maelie and Mrs. Olsen’s feelings. At the same time, they were trying to manipulate me. I found myself trapped in their fantasy, and not having experience in such a situation, I went along with it. Why didn’t I speak up and say I had no wish to marry Maelie? It may have been the easy way out, but thinking back to that time, I wonder if I simply didn’t want to disappoint Mrs. Olsen. She was a mother figure to me, and I desperately missed my own mother after eight years away from home. In a way, Mrs. Olsen filled that gap in my life. Nevertheless, I spent many sleepless nights hoping the relationship would not mature.
While I tried to figure out what was happening with my life, my thesis became my primary focus, as well as, completing my final course requirement—Managerial Planning and Control. I passed my last two classes with As, and with only one course left, I could spend more time writing my thesis. I began writing it by hand, working hard to write a significant amount so I wouldn’t fall behind the timeline indicated by the Industrial Engineering Department.
The thesis writing process overwhelmed me. I needed to compile one hundred typed pages, yet I could not exceed a certain number of words. I did not own a typewriter, nor did I know how to type, so I needed to hire someone to type the thesis for me. After searching around, I found Belinda, a pregnant woman experienced in typing the thesis in the required format. She charged $450 to type my thesis. Since she lived between Nashville and Franklin, three times a week I delivered my handwritten notes to her on my way home from work. Every other weekend, I drove to Knoxville and reviewed my thesis with Professor Buchan.
One evening, two weeks before my thesis submittal date, Belinda gave me the bad news. “I can’t do it anymore, Kris. I’m sorry. These typing deadlines are putting too much pressure on me. I’m in my eighth month of pregnancy, and my husband doesn’t think all this pressure and tension is good for the baby. I don’t want the baby to come prematurely because of this.”
I couldn’t believe what was happening. Graduation was just around the corner, and without someone to type for me, I didn’t know if I would finish in time.
In the end, I found a woman in Knoxville who promised to give my thesis first priority over the other work she was doing. I accepted her charges with no bargaining, gave the thesis material to her, and drove back to Nashville, relieved a solution had surfaced so quickly. However, it meant I would need to drive to Knoxville
